


Riptides

by MrFrank



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: Gen, Pirate AU, merman au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-04-10
Updated: 2015-04-09
Packaged: 2018-01-18 21:51:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 20,215
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1444156
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MrFrank/pseuds/MrFrank
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When the other sailors talked of mermaids, they tended to be referencing just that—mer'maids'. Maybe that was why, when Ryan spotted the young man shouting and flailing against the far off rocks, he thought nothing of the potential dangers of the sea...</p><p>When Ryan Haywood's attempted rescue goes wildly askew, he suddenly finds himself the object of a certain merman's unwavering attention.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Once again I was inspired by a prompt another author attempted (I can't find their name, so if someone knows who tried this first please let me know!) Just a short something that I may continue if I can think of a good plot to follow up with. Feedback is greatly appreciated, and I hope you enjoy!

    When the other sailors talked of mermaids, they tended to be referencing just that—mer _maids_. Maybe that was why, when Ryan spotted the young man shouting and flailing against the far off rocks, he thought nothing of the potential dangers of the sea; only that there was someone within his reach who needed help, and they needed help now.

    After stripping out of his heavy jacket and bulky boots, Ryan scrambled uncertainly out across the rocks. They stretched in a thin, rambling line out to the depths just beyond the cliff-face. The man was at the very end, splashing and screaming as he tried to keep his grip on one of the sea-slicked boulders. Ryan was familiar with this area of the beach, and knew that the young man was likely caught in one of the dangerous currents that hid in the depths just off shore. They were named for the way in which they ripped you away from the surface and down into the depths bellow.

    “I’m almost to you!” Ryan shouted, skidding a little on a patch of seaweed.

    “Help, please help!” the young man cried around sputters of seawater. He vanished under the surface twice before Ryan could reach him, and both times Ryan’s heart pounded with such fear that it physically hurt, but when he finally got to the man it was to find him still stubbornly clinging to a crag in the rock.

    “Help me, help me please,” the man gasped, scrambling against the stone.

    “I am, I’m going to help you, I will,” Ryan assured him, babbling continued reassurances as he tried to figure out how to brace himself on the slippery rock. As he inched closer the young man lurched up, grabbing for his ankle. “Don’t do that!” Ryan cried, but it was already too late. The man’s frantic grab had knocked Ryan’s foot out from under him. He fell backwards, cracking his head against the rock before tumbling into the young man and knocking them both into the water.

    Kicking out, Ryan broke the surface with a hacking gasp. Terror surged through him as he turned, scanning for a place to get back out of the water. He could feel the cold current of the riptide rushing just below him, ready and willing to pull him to the depths below and never let him go. His head pounded, vision swimming as he flailed against the waves. Bile rose in his throat. He was going to throw up. He was going to drown, and he was going to throw up.

    Hands appeared under Ryan’s arms suddenly, spinning him. He found himself face to face with the young man he’d been moments ago trying to save. The man didn’t look like he needed saving anymore as he bobbed easily in the water. He had curly hair and eyes that seemed to glow gold against the growing darkness of the night. He shifted his hands, cupping Ryan’s face with one, the other tangling in his hair.

    “What—what are you—?”

    “Shh,” the young man whispered. “I’m here, I’m going to help you.” Gentle, calming words became slowly more garbled, as if the man had started speaking another language. Ryan’s head continued to pound, harder and louder. How badly had he hit it?

    The young man continued to babble on, and as he did his voice seemed to change. The unfamiliar words became longer, more rhythmic. His voice raised in pitch, like he was singing. Warning bells rang in Ryan’s mind and he tried to kick away but something thick and strong was tangled in his legs, keeping him in place.

    “Who are you?” Ryan tried to ask, but his tongue had become heavy and tired. He tried to push the young man away but his arms refused to answer him, floating limp and useless at his side. It felt like his muscles were melting away, only the young man’s grip on his head keeping him afloat.

    “Help,” Ryan tried to call as his head lolled limply to the side. His panicked cry came out as little more than a breathy exhale.

    The young man moved closer, golden eyes positively burning with an ethereal light. His voice was louder, echoing itself as if he’d gained a dozen voices all his own. Something flashed at the edge of Ryan’s vision and his eyes rolled, catching another pair of glowing eyes hovering at his side. The water behind him stirred; another had joined them. The young man’s grip on his hair and face tightened, other hands fisting in his shirt and pants. They were preparing to pull him under, just like all the legends said, pull him all the way to bottom and drown him.

    There was a reason they also called riptides “mertides.”

    As they began to pull him down, cold water lapping up the sides of his face, he heard his own name being called. It was a distant, panicked sound, like his own brain was screaming at him to try and save himself. “I can’t,” he tried to tell it, his limbs like lead as he continued to sink. Seawater poured into his lax, open mouth, but his body didn’t even try to cough it back out.

    _So this is it,_ he thought. _Who would have thought I would go like this._

    Dark water stung at his eyes as his head slipped completely under. He didn’t even blink, his entire body frozen as it drifted down into the darkness. The only light came from two eyes, inches from his own. The distance between them shrank, the water between them warming as the merman’s lips drifted closer to his own. Soft skin, warmer than Ryan would have expected, brushed his lips…

    A flash of light lit the water once, twice, three times, and the echoing songs turned to shrill, panicked shrieking. The hands clutching him vanished, the water buffeting him as three powerful tails propelled themselves away from him. He could just make out the glint of light against scales as the mermen vanished downwards.

    For a moment Ryan floated, weightless and alone, and then a single strong arm was wrapping itself around his chest and he was being propelled upwards by what were unmistakably two kicking legs. He broke the surface to the sight of a smattering of stars. The warm night air tingled against his damp skin, and, although some part of him seemed incredibly insistent on breathing, his ears still rang with the echoes of the mermen’s song and he just couldn’t find the energy to do so.

    “I’ve got you, Ryan, I got you,” a familiar voice gasped as its owner fought against the surf. “We’re almost to the shore, we’re almost there.”

    The sand rose gradually to meet Ryan and his rescuer, and as soon as it did another pair of arms appeared as two people drug him onto the sandy shoreline.

    “Ryan, Ryan can you hear me?” another voice asked, a bearded face leaning into view. Ryan couldn’t get his eyes to focus on his fellow soldier, couldn’t get his chest to move.

    _Am I dead?_ he wondered.

    “He’s not breathing,” his rescuer said, a second, older face leaning over him. “Come on Ryan, you can do it, come on.” The older man smacked his cheek and shook him.

    _Well…this sucks_ , Ryan thought as he listened to his companions begging him to breath and the waves breaking against the shore. He focused on these, figuring the last things he heard should at least be soothing sounds.

    The mermen’s song slowly, eventually, faded away, erased by the calming sounds of the sea. The song seemed to take whatever spell had been cast over Ryan with it. As soon as it was gone Ryan’s muscles jerked to life, his chest constricting in a single, mighty heave. He scrambled to roll onto his side, frantic hands helping him, as sea water gushed out of him.

    “Holy _shit_ ,” one of the men gasped, while another breathed a mighty, “ _Jesus fucking Christ,_ Ryan,” as he lay hacking and retching into the sand. A hand rested comfortingly on his shoulder as his coughs mellowed into wheezing breaths.

    “What the hell were you thinking, Haywood?” Captain Ramsey asked. “Damn it, you’re lucky Pattillo came and got me when he did.”

    “Thanks, Jack,” Ryan wheezed. Ramsey sighed.

    “Let’s get you back to the dock. You can tell me what exactly you were doing out here and why I had to come rescue your stupid ass in the morning. You have,” Ramsey checked opened his pocket watch, frowned at the water that fell out of it, and continued, “until six o’clock in the morning to come up with a story that won’t make me ground you permanently at the next port.”

    “I’ll…do my best.” Ryan couldn't tell if it was affection, frustration, or both in the man’s eyes as he sighed.

    “See that you do, Haywood.”

* * *

    Out in the water a curly haired head bobbed just above the surface, brown eyes watching as the trio on the beach stumbled to their feet together, the man between them clinging to the other two as they helped him back to the docks.

    They’d been so close. So close to another…something. The merman’s eyes narrowed. The plan had been to capture the man for kill him, but while he’d held the helpless human in his clutches he’d noticed something…different about the man.

    He found himself hoping that he might run into this strange man another time. He’d been wearing the costume of the men who wandered the sea on their large sailing vessels. It wouldn't be unlikely for the two to cross paths again.

    A sing-song call drew the merman’s attention away from the shore, to where two heads bobbed impatiently a dozen feet further out. Their attempted catch had failed, and now the rest of his small hunting party was waiting for him so that they could chase the shoals that moved under the moonlight. He called back to them, letting them know he was coming. They disappeared under the surf with faint splashes and, after a last, lingering look at the shore, so did he.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Michael can't get the sailor that got away out of his head so he follows him, hoping to learn more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this story wouldn't leave me as alone as I'd hoped. As always, feedback is amazing and I hope you enjoy this next chapter!

    The early morning finds Ryan Haywood standing before his captain, hands clasped behind his back as he explains in harrowing detail how his selfless act of rescue turned into a near drowning. Ramsey frowns disapprovingly all the way through, but Ryan already knows the most he’s going to receive is a slap on the wrist and orders to return to work.

    Until about a month ago, most of the sailors on the ship had known that mermaids were nothing more than legends. It was only a few days ago that they’d been informed differently, and only last night that the three men on the beach realized how real, and how _dangerous_ they really were.

    They’d traveled all the way from the coast of England, sailing what was soon to become the flagship of the Caribbean arm of the King’s Royal Navy. Called simply _The Hunt_ , she was a marvel of maritime engineering. Built to hold over fifty men, but capable of being run by as few as three, she was fast, powerful, and unmatched by any in the Caribbean Sea.

    At the moment _The Hunt_ was manned by only English men fresh from the homeland’s shores, the intention being that when they’d arrived at their destination, the port in Nassau, they’d switch out with a crew and ship ready for the sail back home to guard familiar, northern shores. New to southern waters, _The Hunt_ ’s crew was fresh-faced, eager, and naïve to the mysterious dangerous of the warm, clear waters they sailed.

    As Ryan took his slap on the wrist and was dismissed back to work, he couldn’t help but wonder what other mysteries they would find out amongst the Caribbean islands.

    “So, how’d it go?” Jack asked as Ryan joined him at the front of the ship, where the man was straightening and coiling the long, thick lines of rope that had bound _The Hunt_ to her dock earlier that morning.

    “How do you think?” Ryan asked, giving Jack a knowing look. The other man grinned and handed him a coil of rope.

    “So what did you tell him?”

    “The truth,” Ryan said.

    “Which was…?” Jack prompted when Ryan failed to continue.

    “That I thought I saw someone in need of rescue and acted accordingly.”

    “What does that mean?”

    “Exactly what it sounds like. One of those mermaid things was acting like someone who was drowning, so I went to rescue them. When I got close enough they pulled me into the water and…and I’m not sure what they did to me, actually. Tried to drown me, I guess.”

    “You would think someone trying to drown you would be pretty obvious,” Jack said, raising an eyebrow.

    “But it wasn’t,” Ryan said. “They could have just pulled me under, but they didn’t.”

    “Then what did they do?”

    “They…this is going to sound strange, but I’m pretty sure they started singing.”

    “You’re right,” Jack said, stacking his coiled rope into a barrel, “that does sound crazy.”

    “I said strange, not crazy,” Ryan said, frowning. “But it was strange. They started singing, or whatever, and my whole body just stopped working. I couldn’t fight back or talk or anything. And then they did start pulling me down, but it was really slowly and they kept singing the whole time. Jack, it was so strange. I didn’t even try not to breath in the water, I literally couldn’t control my body. It was…” Ryan trailed off with a shudder.

    “That sound terrifying,” Jack said, frowning his sympathy.

    “It was,” Ryan said. “Can you believe a month ago I didn’t even think they were real? And now I know firsthand how true all the stories are.”

    “Maybe not all of them,” Jack said. “I thought mermaids were supposed to be beautiful women who lured men to their deaths with promises of love.”

    “Well, they did try to lure me to my death. And they were singing, just like the other sailors told us mermaids were supposed to do.”

    “I thought it was those siren things that were supposed to sing.”

    “I think they’re kind of the same thing, aren’t they?”

    “Who knows,” Jack said with a shrug. “All I know is I would appreciate it if nothing else mythical decided to become reality while we’re out here. Now help me with this big rope, would you?”

    While the two men wrangled with a particularly difficult length of rope, in the waters below them an unexpected threat stalked them through the waves.

    Despite his best efforts, the curly haired merman had been unable to forget the blond haired man who’d escaped his clutches the night before. Even while he helped hunt, his mind wandered, again and again, to the memory of blue eyes, wide with fright and yet, even despite their terror, somehow determined and…curious, maybe? The merman knew some of the human cliché’s that abounded, including the one about eyes being the windows to a person’s…person-ness, but in all his years of dragging men to their doom he’d never seen a pair of eyes that were actually so expressive. Intrigue had clung to him after that and, as soon as his group had returned with their catch, he’d left to see if he could find the sailor again.

    It hadn’t been nearly as hard as he’s thought it would. He started with the most obvious place, the docks and the brand new ship resting comfortably there. It was unlike any of the others he’d seen, smaller and sleeker, but still similar enough to be identified as belonging to the group of ships that had taken, in recent months, to actively hunting the merpeople it came across. Apparently they hadn’t taken kindly to having someone else treating them like the water’s weren’t their God given home.

    Scowling, the merman’s anger was about to drive him away from the boat when he’d spotted the trio shambling towards it. He lowered himself until only his eyes and his damp mop of hair sat above the water, relying on the dark waters to hide the rest of him. He could make out his soldier easily enough, he was the one leaning on another for support, still occasionally coughing up lungfuls of water.

    They moved quickly onto the ship and, to the merman’s disappointment, vanished quickly below deck. He remained nearby, however, swimming in idle circles around the ship on the off chance that the man would come back on deck again. He didn’t, but another did decide to grace him with his company.

    “What are you doing, Michael?” a friendly voice asked, the sound rippling pleasantly in the still waters.

    “Who says I’m doing anything?” Michael asked quickly. He didn’t think anyone would come looking for him, they usually didn’t when he wandered off alone, and he was uncomfortable at being found hovering so close to a human vessel.

    “Right, you’re just swimming around a human ship because it just happened to be conveniently placed where you were swimming, am I right?”

    “Stop it, Ray,” Michael huffed, swimming away from the other merman.

    “Hoping to get some revenge on that guy from earlier?” Ray asked playfully, swimming lazily after his friend.

    “Why would I want to do that?” Michael asked, his tone sharper than he’d intended. He could practically feel the surprised look Ray was giving him.

    “Whoa, I’m just joking.” Ray hesitated, then asked, “You wanna talk about it?”

    “No.” Michael snapped. Then, “What the hell was wrong with that guy? He was weird, wasn’t he? Like…I don’t know, weird.”

    “Like he wasn’t completely afraid of us?”

    “Yeah,” Michael said, spinning to face his friend. “You noticed it too?”

    “Kind of. Like, he was scared but…”

    “But not,” Michael finished.

    “He seemed kind of gullible. Maybe it wasn’t his first almost death by merman,” Ray suggested.

    “No, did you hear his voice? He didn’t sound like the sailors from around here. And that ship is new to this area.”

    “Maybe he just liked you.”

    “That’s not helping,” Michael sighed.

    “So what will help?”

    “I don’t know.”

    “Maybe you just need to see him again?”

    “Gavin!” Michael snapped, spinning to find another merman right behind him. His fellow sea creature yelped and failed to dodge as Michael grabbed him into a headlock.

    “Michael, no!” Gavin cried, flailing futilely against the other’s hold.

    “How long have you been eavesdropping on me?”

    “Well, he came here with me, so…” Ray said, trailing off with a shrug.

    “Seriously?” Michael huffed, releasing his friend. Gavin grumbled something profane as he hurried away, swimming behind Ray for safety. “You guys are assholes,” Michael said, using one of the many profane human terms he’d taken a liking to.

    “And you’re pining after a human,” Ray responded.

    “I’m not ‘pining’,” Michael said, which earned a disbelieving laugh from Gavin. The laugh became a yelp when Michael swung his fist.

    “Yes you are,” Ray said, moving swiftly away from the wrestling match waiting to happen. “You clearly want to see him again. Why else would you be over at the docks. It’s not safe, and there’s nothing else worth our time here.”

    “Okay, fine,” Michael sighed, scowling first at Ray, then at Gavin. “So maybe I’m pining, or whatever. So what? It’s not like I’m going to see the guy again, anyway.”

    “Maybe you could,” Ray said.

    “…How?”

    “We could follow the ship,” Gavin suggested. “He’s got to come out eventually, right? You can see him then.”

    “Oh right, just follow the ship,” Michael said, “Why didn’t I think of that? Oh, that’s right, because we have a pod here who would kind of notice if three of their members just up and vanished one night.”

    “Not if someone had asked permission for them to go.”

    “What?” Michael and Gavin asked. Ray offered them a mischievous smile.

    “Someone might have mentioned the new ship to Burnie, who just maybe might have agreed with that person that it might be a good idea to follow that ship and see where it went just in case it was some kind of mer-hunting vessel, just like that certain someone might have suggested it could be.”

    “Huh?” Gavin asked. Michael, who’d followed his friend’s winding logic a little better, grinned.

    “Ray, you motherfucker.” He swooped forward, grabbing the other merman in a hug. “Thanks, man.” Ray had simply smiled and suggested they get some sleep, and after a night tucked against the base of the dock’s pylons the trio had set out in the shadow of the small naval vessel.

    The weather, thankfully, had been perfect for their means. An overcast sky tinted the sea a murky green, allowing Michael to get fairly close to the surface without being spotted. Lying on his back, he’d found a place just the right distance from the boat to be able to see the man from the night before standing on the deck, talking to a man who Michael was almost positive had been on the beach that night as well.

    They spent the day circling the ship, following their target as he moved around the boat. A few times the man would stand at the ship’s railing, sometimes talking to someone, sometimes alone. It was at these times when Michael would scoot up to the side of the boast, so close he was practically scraping his scales off on the hull, and listen in to whatever snippets of conversation he could catch. He learned that the man’s name was either Ryan or Haywood or some combination of the two, and that his companion was likely named Jack. They spent a lot of time guessing what Nassau would be like, so Michael’s guess that they weren’t local was confirmed, and they spoke a lot about a man whose name was agreed to be “Ramsey,” who, after finally making an appearance on the deck, was verified as the other man who’d been on the beach.

    It was this man, Michael was pretty sure, who’d fired on them with the weapon human had that shot out hunks of metal at alarming speeds. It was like the crossbows and harpoon shooters the mermen had, but seemed to be both smaller and more deadly, and for some reason way too many humans had then, not just the hunters and warriors. Michael wanted to dislike the man, but he’d come to Ryan’s rescue and for some odd reason that made him a little more accepting of the man.

    Michael observed the men until the sun sank into the surf and it was too dark to see them from anywhere by the shallowest depths, which neither he nor his companions were willing to risk. Besides, Ryan had vanished inside the ship, and likely wouldn’t reemerge until morning anyway. Calling to his companions, Michael and the others regrouped beneath the boat, out of sight of the night crew meandering the deck above.

    “How was that?” Gavin asked. “You got to see him again, and all his friend. Ready to go home now?”

    “I guess,” Michael said, his gaze on the boat’s hull. He didn’t see the knowing look Ray and Gavin exchanged, or the annoyed look on Gavin’s face or the pointed look Ray gave him back.

    “You know, we said we were going to follow this boat and learn about it,” Ray said, swimming up by Michael. “I think we’re going to need a few more days for that. Besides, we know where they’re heading. If we want to stop and rest for the night, we can take some shortcuts to their port. Even stopping at night, we should be able to beat them there by almost half a day.”

    “Do you hear yourself, you jellyfish?” Gavin asked, swooping in on Michael’s other side. “Do you know how busy that port of theirs is? In waters like that we’d be spotted in seconds!”

    “Then we’ll be careful,” Ray said, “I mean, how bad could it be?”

* * *

    For the next two days _The Hunt_ skipped across calm waters, carrying its crew to their new life in the Caribbean. Just to the east a trio of merman leapt the waves, chasing dolphins and their own sense of adventure as they played in the surf.

    And a mile south of them, her eye to a brass telescope, a blonde with wild curls and unforgiving eyes watched three half man, half fish beings as they leapt and swam.

    “Any luck, Captain?”

    Collapsing her telescope, the captain turned to the woman beside her, a fellow blonde with heavily kohl lined eyes. Both wore jewelry decorated with large, iridescent scales, like nothing ever seen on a regular fish.

    Captain Ashley Jenkins grinned.

    “Tell the others to prepare the nets. I believe there’s some gold in our future.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Michael can't fight the urge to learn more about this strange human, this 'Ryan' character, but as his curiosity gets the better of him he might just get himself killed in the process...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone reading this, and to doctor_jasley for your kind encouragement :) As always, feedback is loved beyond measure, and I hope you enjoy this new chapter~!

    “Michael, be careful.”

    “I am being careful,” Michael hissed, waving away Gavin’s nervous hands as he edged closer to the docks.

    Standing an impressive sentinel over Nassau, the port was a cloud of activity as boats of all shapes and sizes clustered together, an equally eclectic gathering of men moving easily among them as they shouted and bartered, laughed and fought. Soldiers spoke with scruffy looking sea traders, merchants in fresh linen coats passed goats and nets back and forth with local island fishermen. The whole scene echoed of barely contained confusion, a system of unspoken understanding that hinged on the fact that every man seemed to know exactly where he belonged in it all.

    “I really think we should wait back here.” A hand wrapped around Michael’s wrist, pulling him back.

    “What are you afraid of, Ray?” Michael asked, pulling his hand free.

    “What-what am I afraid of?” the dark haired merman sputtered. “Maybe, I don’t know, being run through with a harpoon? Maybe?”

    “That’s not going to happen,” Michael said.

    “It will if you go wandering around those docks with all those humans about,” Gavin said. Michael shifted his frown from one friend to the other.

    “Why are you guys being so paranoid?”

    “Why are you so desperate to get caught?” Ray countered. “Besides, you drug us out here for a reason, remember? Will it really have been worth it if you’ve been hauled in and chopped to bits before that guy gets here?”

    That brought Michael up short.

    “I didn’t drag you guys, you chose to come with me,” Michael mumbled, looking away. Ray had a point, of course. He hadn’t swum all the way out here just to explore the humans. He was here for only one in particular, one that would be hopefully arriving any minute now. He sunk down until only his eyes and hair showed over the water and muttered, “You’re right.”

    “What was that?” Gavin asked, assuming an expression of mock astonishment.

    “Do you want me to punch you?” Michael snapped. Yelping, Gavin dodged behind Ray for safety.

    “Knock it off, you two,” Ray sighed. “You’re going to attract attention.”

    “From who? Those losers on the dock? They’re not going to do anything to us.”

    “But they might.”

    "Yeah, like what?"

    Ray's response died on his lips as he spun to frown at Gavin, who was beating him on the shoulder. "What?"

    "Look, look!"

    Michael and Ray followed Gavin’s outstretched finger to the naval vessel sailing smoothly into the harbor. It was a magnificent ship, with wide white sails and its name emblazoned in gold at the stern.

    _The Hunt_.

    “Stay here,” Ray snapped, grabbing Michael’s arm before the merman could swim away.

    “No one’s going to see me, Ray. I’ll be careful.”

    “Michael, that dock is literally teaming with people who would love to net you and chop your tail off.”

    “Maybe,” Michael said, earning a sigh from Ray, “But it’s also full of people who aren’t expecting to see a merperson so close to one of their towns. They won’t be looking for me, so it’ll be just that much easier to hide from them.”

    “That’s really reckless, Michael,” Ray said.

    “Why can’t you just watch them from here?” Gavin asked.

    “Are you fucking kidding me? What was the point of you guys coming all the way out here with me if you’re just going to try and stop me now?” Michael jerked his arm from Ray’s grasp. The two mermen shared a look, and Michael used the moment to dive under the surface and hurry after the naval ship. He could hear Ray shouting after him but he ignored the panicked calls, heading for the shadow beneath the large ship.

    He stuck close to the underside of the ship as it drifted towards one of the longer docks. Up above he could hear the crew shouting back and forth, a cacophony of sound that somehow kept the ship moving smooth. Michael searched for Ryan’s voice amongst the noise but couldn’t make it out amongst the clutter of conversations and yelled orders.

    When the shadow of a long plank extended out from the ship to the dock Michael shifted his position until, with his eyes just above the water, he could see the men moving along the gangplank as they loaded people and supplies onto dry land. He could see Ramsey, the ship’s leader, standing on the dock talking to a man with a sour frown and a large book open in his hands. The man’s expression suggested he was displeased with something. Ramsey’s expression suggested that he couldn’t care less.

    Michael watched with a growing smirk as the book-holder became more and more expressive and Ramsey seemed to become less so in response. He wished he could hear whatever exchange they were having—he was sure it was fantastic. He was so curious he was actually about to move closer when another familiar voice drew his attention back to the gangplank.

    “Are you going to help me with this?” Jack Pattillo shouted, struggling to keep his grip on a large crate.

    “Sorry, coming,” another familiar voice shouted, and Michael couldn’t have explained the shudder that ran through him at that voice if his life had depended on it. Ryan scrambled into view a moment later, quickly shifting to take half the weight of their load. Jack said something else that made Ryan laugh. Michael’s tail twitched as he fought the urge to move closer. The men continued to shuffle down the plank, struggling to balance their load between them. 

    "Dammit," Jack sighed when his grip slipped, tilting the create to one side. Something that had been sitting atop it, a tool or something similar, slipped off and into the water below.

    "We can always get it back later," Ryan said, gaze scanning the water for any sign of the fallen tool—

    And then suddenly Ryan was looking at him, looking _right at him_ , and Michael’s whole body went still. Time melted away, the shouting crew and the bustling docks fading until the only thing Michael could see were two eyes, blue as the warm Caribbean sea, boring into his own. It felt like lightning was shooting between them, causing his muscles to tingle from the crown of his head to the tips of his tail. He couldn't think of anything, not the danger of the men all around, not Ray's warnings ringing somewhere in the back of his mind. His entire being was focused on the human standing barely twenty feet from him.

    The distance between them was too much; he needed to be close to Ryan, within reach of those curious, surprised eyes and the handsome face that housed them right this minute—

    Water splashing over Michael’s head broke whatever connection had stilled him, the merman wrenched harshly down beneath the dock.

    “What the fuck is wrong with you?” Ray demanded, shoving Michael into the sand. “Are you fucking insane? Do you want to be chopped to fucking pieces?”

    “Wh-what?” Michael cast about, trying to get his bearings. Ray’s hands on his shoulders snapped his attention back to the dark haired merman.

    “What were you _thinking_?” he demanded. “Why would you lift out of the water like that, right next to a fucking ship load of humans?”

    “I did what?”

    “You were practically climbing out of the water. I thought I was going to have to pry you off the dock!”

    “I don’t…” Michael frowned. Had he raised himself out of the water? All he could remember was Ryan’s gaze...and wanting to be closer to it—

    “Shit,” he hissed.

    “Exactly,” Ray snapped. His gaze was trained on the dock above them as he added, “And I think it’s about to get shittier.” They could hear muffled footfalls rushing along the dock, voices shouting hurriedly as men gathered above them.

    “Did they see me?” Michael asked. Terror bubbled in his gut—why had Ray come for him? If he’d gotten himself seen then he was done for anyway, there was no reason Ray had to put himself in danger as well.

    “I don’t think so, but I’m sure they heard your splash. We need to get out of here, now.”

    “How?” Shadows were still gathering all around the dock, the voices getting louder. No matter which way they went they would be seen.

    “Just go straight,” Ray said, pushing Michael towards the end of the dock and the general direction of the harbor opening. “Go fast and stay low, and we might just avoid having out scales ripped out.” Michael managed a single, terrified nod, and then Ray was shoving him again and with a sweep of his tail he was shooting through the water, Ray right beside him.

    Above the water shouts rang out, followed a moment later by something splashing through the surface. Michael jerked to the side just as a fishing spear shot past him. A barrage of sounds like tiny barks of thunder followed, the water’s surface peppered with the projectiles from the human’s more lethal weapons. One of the metal balls split the water right in front of Michael’s face and he recoiled, just as Ray let out a pained shout.

    “Ray—!”

    “Keep moving!”

    The sounds of one of the fishing vessels being prepared for a pursuit echoed through the waters as the mermen moved out of the range of the humans’ weapons. It was too little, too late, though, since the men would have no hope of catching the pair once they’d made it into open water.

    At the mouth of the harbor they regrouped with an angry and terrified looking Gavin, who flashed Michael a disapproving look before leading them over to a deep cluster of boulders. They hid here until the fishing vessel, loaded with shouting and jeering humans waving weapons as they sailed out on their hunt, had passed them by, and then continued to follow Gavin as he lead them along the cliffs that walled in the Caribbean port and into a small, underwater cave.

    “We should be safe here for a while,” Gavin said. “I think it would be best if we—Ray, what happened to your arm?”

    “It’s nothing,” Ray said, and as Michael turned to him he noticed for the first time the way the merman was holding his arm tightly against his chest. “It’s nothing, Gavin,” Ray repeated, trying to wiggle away from the other merman. Gavin would have none of it, grabbing Ray’s arm with one hand and prying the stubborn merman’s fingers away with the other.

    The water around Ray’s arm immediately turned a hazy red, blood seeping from a wide gash across the back of his bicep.

    “That’s not nothing, you idiot,” Gavin said. Ray tried to pull himself away but Gavin tightened his grip, laying one hand over the merman’s injury. He began to sing softly. Ray frowned, his face scrunching with pain. As Gavin’s song wound to its end Ray’s expression softened, and when Gavin pulled his hand away, it was to reveal neatly healed flesh.

    “Thanks,” Ray mumbled.

    “Of course,” Gavin replied dismissively before rounding suddenly on Michael. “What was all that about?” he demanded.

    “Uh…” Michael tried, running a hand through his curls as he tried to think back on the moments before Ray had been forced to save his stupid fucking life. “I’m not…uh,” he’d seen Ryan, he remembered that, could remember Ryan seeing _him_ , too, and… “I saw him,” Michael offered with an uncertain shrug. “And it was like, weird.”

    “Weird?” Ray repeated. “I guess that’s one way to describe what happened back there.”

    “Or maybe bloody suicidal,” Gavin snapped.

    “I’m sorry, okay!” Michael snapped right back. “I don’t know what happened out there, I just, I thought I had everything under control, but then I saw him again and I just…I don’t know,” he trailed off meekly. “I had no idea that was going to happen.” He must have looked as genuinely pathetic as he was feeling in that moment, because Gavin and Ray exchanged only slightly pitying look before Ray sighed and said,

    “We’re just going to have to be more careful next time, got it?”

    “What?” Michael whispered, after he’d gotten over his surprise enough to speak. “You’re…you’re still going to help me?”

    “Of course we are,” Gavin said, “after all, we didn’t come all this way just for a quick peek, did we?”

    “Honestly, at this point I think I’m as curious about what’s going on here as you are,” Ray agreed. “We can rest here for a bit, and when the coast is clear we can go back out and maybe check out their boat or something, try and figure out what the hell is wrong with you and this Ryan guy.”

    Michael couldn’t have stopped the grin splitting his face if he’d tried.

    “Thanks, guys,” he said, only to have them both wave off his apology.

    “Anytime,” Gavin said. “Now, I don’t know about you lot, but I’m starving. Who wants to help me find some food?”

    “Not it,” Ray deadpanned, before scooting off into the cave to look for somewhere to rest.

    “I’ll go with you,” Michael offered. Ray waved them off as they headed back out into the warm sea, Gavin already on the tail of a school of bright reef fish.

    As they swam Michael marveled at his just how willing his friends were to help him. Fuck, even _he_ didn’t know what was going on with him, except that it was apparently going to get him killed. Sighing, he just hoped that whatever was fucking wrong with him was going to be worth all of this.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As Ryan and Michael struggle to understand what's happening to them, Captain Jenkins closes in on Nassau Port...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, thank you to doctor_jasley and everyone who's been reading for your support!

    “Are you sure that’s what you saw?”

    “Positive.”

    Jack frowned at him as he collected his rifle, the pair gathering their equipment for their first night-watch at the island fort.

    “Ryan, why would a mermaid follow you for miles across the ocean like that? They’re supposed to want to lure people to their deaths, not try and make friends.”

    “I don’t understand it, either,” Ryan sighed. “But I know what I saw out there in the harbor. It was the same one from the other day, and it was right next to our boat. And it was staring _right_ at me.”

    “That’s kind of unsettling,” Jack offered after a thoughtful pause in which he pulled on his coat.

    “Should I tell Geoff about it?”

    “What could he do?”

    “I don’t know,” Ryan said with a shrug. “Perhaps I should just figure this out tomorrow.”

    “That might be best,” Jack agreed. “It’s been a long day, after all.” Ryan nodded emphatically at that. The crew of _The Hunt_ had finally reached their port mid-morning, and had spent every minute since then unloading cargo, moving into barracks, and preparing to take over for the crew that was about to be sent home. It had made for a busy and bustling day, the men only getting a short hour to rest before a group of them took over for their first night watch in Nassau.

    Despite their exhaustion, few men had complained—Nassau was a generally quiet port, and the balmy night would be a welcome change from the damp, cold weather they’d left back in England.

    Jack and Ryan joined their fellow soldiers as they trudged out onto the battlements, where Ramsey was waiting to give them their post assignments. Jack gave Ryan a pointed look, but Ryan simply shook his head and remained quiet as Ramsey pointed them in the direction of the eastern most corner of the high wall.

    “Nice view,” Jack commented as they reached their post.

    Their corner was the closest to the edge of the harbor, letting them look out over all of the ships in the port as well as out over the dark ocean. The sea breeze was warm, heavy with the salty scent of the ocean and the rhythmic beat of the waves. Ryan nodded, gaze skimming along the rocky pillars at the entrance of the harbor. Something flashed in the moonlight, red and shimmering. He frowned, trying to catch a better look as something splashed the water’s surface.

    “See something?” Jack asked, scooting up next to Ryan. The man sighed, flashing his friend a tired smile.

    “It's nothing,” he said, waving off the man’s worried look. Jack continued to frown at him but let the matter go, at least for now. Ryan waited until Jack’s attention was focused out over the water before he let his smile drop, uncertainty entering his gaze. _At least_ , he thought, _I hope it was nothing._

* * *

    “That was him, I know it was,” Michael said, grinning as Ray tugged him back behind the rocks.

    “I thought we were in agreement about you not trying to get spotted again,” Ray sighed, arms crossed.

    “We were—we are!” Michael said quickly. “I just didn’t expect to see him up there is all. Look, I’ll be more careful, okay?” he added when Ray continued to frown.

    “You said that last time,” Gavin said, swimming lazily past.

    “I’m working on it,” Michael growled, making a grab for Gavin’s tail. The merman yelped, splashing away. “But I already told you that I don’t think I can really control it.”

    “You’re going to have to,” Ray said. “The more you keep doing stupid stuff around this guy, the more Gavin and I have to save your scales from being scraped off by some ass with a fishing pole and a knife.”

    “I know,” Michael snapped. His gaze darted briefly to Ray’s newly healed arm and some of the fight melted out of him. “You’re right,” he said, tone gentler. “Look, I’m just going to go look around the ship a little bit, okay? You guys don’t even have to come with me if you don’t want to. In fact, it might be better if you don’t.”

    “Yeah, that would be better,” Ray deadpanned, while Gavin’s eyes rolled.

    “We’re not doing that, you jellyfish.” Gavin scooted up to Michael, throwing an arm around his shoulders. “You saw how well that went last time, after all. We’re definitely coming with you this time.”

    “If you’re sure,” Michael grumbled. He was sure they could hear the _Thank you_ in his words.

    “We’re very sure,” Ray said. _You’re welcome._

    The trio swam towards the docked ships together, Michael heading straight for _The Hunt_. Lights bobbed along its rails as its small crew of night watchmen wandered about. They felt comfortable within the walls of Nassau port and were only minimally bothered with actually keeping lookout for anything, which made it easy for the mermen to creep right up on the ship.

    “What exactly are we looking for?” Gavin asked as they huddled beneath the ship.

    “I’m not sure yet,” Michael said. He was too busy scanning the ship’s side to notice the looks Ray and Gavin exchanged.

    “Maybe we should have figured that out _before_ we swam all the way over here,” Ray said.

    “I told you, it’s not that easy,” Michael said, scowling as he inched closer to the surface. Ray caught one of his fins and tugged him back.

    “It might be worth making it that easy, if it means being a bit safer,” he suggested. Michael frowned, trying to convey with just a look that Ray needed to realize they did not have time for such nonsense.

    Judging by the look Ray gave him in return, the merman wasn’t buying it.

    “Okay, fine,” he huffed. “What do you want me to do?”

    “I want you to try and understand what’s happening to you, so that Gavin and I can have some idea of what’s going on.”

    “I told you,” Michael sighed, “I don’t know what’s making me act this way—”

    “I know you don’t,” Ray said quickly, “But maybe you can explain what it’s like or…I don’t know, what makes it happen? Something so that me and Gavin can predict when you’re going to do something stupid _before_ you do it.”

    “That would be great, actually,” Gavin agreed.

    “Fine,” Michael grumbled. Arms crossed, his brow furrowed as he tried to come up with the words to describe just what he felt when he saw Ryan. Happy? Content? Curious? Confused? Well, he was certainly confused.  “It’s like…like a pull or…kind of like…I don’t know,” Michael finished with a shrug.

    “Really?”

    “That’s the best I’ve got.”

    “You’ve got to do better than that,” Ray said, shaking his head. “We’re risking our tails out here for you, you know.”

    “I know, I know.” Michael hemmed and hawed for a few more minutes, searching for words that wouldn’t come to describe something he didn’t even understand himself. Eventually, when it became clear Michael wasn’t sure what he was doing or why he was doing it, Ray and Gavin drug the merman back to the entrance of the harbor to regroup.

    As the mermen hovered just below the surface, trying to figure out what they needed to do next, a predatory eye watched the moonlight glinting off their scales through a brass telescope.

    “You look happy.”

    “It’s going to be a good night,” Captain Jenkins replied, lowering her telescope. She turned to her second mate, the blonde watching her closely for her orders. “Tell the girls to get ready, Barbara. We’re about to bring in some fish.”

    Barbara flashed a quick, vicious grin, and then spun to look out over the small ship’s deck.

    “Get to your fucking stations, girls! It’s time for the _Ruby_ reel in a catch!”

    Cheers erupted from the ragtag crew of women as they scrambled into position. Jenkins and Barbara moved easily through the chaos, barking orders as they moved.

    “Lindsay,” Jenkins snapped, grabbing the arm of a redhead who was hurrying past.

    “Ma’am?”

    “Take Kara down below with you. I want you two manning the cannons tonight. You know what to do.”

    “Aye,” Lindsay said, nodding once before scurrying off. She passed another woman who was scrambling up the mast to join another who was already unfurling the ship’s deep red sails. Barbara paused to talk quickly with a woman, whose long brown hair was pulled back in a complicated braid, about the nets she and another were preparing, and then followed Jenkins as she joined a woman with dark hair and eyes at the wheel.

    “We’re not trying to go in their harbor, Arryn,” Jenkins said, “Just alongside. They’re in the waters by the rocks. I need you to get close enough for Kara and Lindsay to make their shots. Understood?”

    “Absolutely,” Arryn said, grinning as she spun the wheel, lining the _Ruby_ up with her target. “Mermaids ho,” she laughed.

* * *

    It was Ryan who spotted the ship first as it drifted out of the darkness. It was made of a dark wood, blackened by its years in the salt and sun, that seemed to melt into the dark ocean as if the waters themselves had risen up to form the ship’s hull. The sails stood out in stark contrast, their red fabric glistening in the moonlight like a bloody wind carrying the sea’s ship towards Nassau.

    “Are you seeing what I’m seeing,” he asked softly, glancing at Jack.

   “I’m…not sure,” Jack whispered. He glanced along the battlements to see a few of the other soldiers were also watching the mysterious ship as it drew closer. The men holding guns shifted uncertainly, while those manning cannons edged closer to their weapons. No one made a move just yet, waiting to see what the ship would do. Only a whisper rippled through the men, as the call to alert Ramsey worked its way to the captain.

    “Do you recognize it?” Jack whispered. Ryan shook his head.

    Stories of the _Ruby_ and its crew of brutal, beautiful women were common among the more seasoned Caribbean sailors, but for the freshly arrived crew the ship was nothing but a confusing shadow on the surf. It seemed like it was heading for the harbor, but it was moving slowly, and, with its dark hull, it was hard to tell if the ship was armed or not. The men could only wait for the ship to make the first move.

    As the mystery ship came close to the harbor entrance it began to turn away, twisting so that its side faced the rocky cliffs. Ryan frowned, leaning out over the wall as he tried to see what the ship might be up to. Jack shifted closer to him and asked,

    “Isn’t that dangerous?”

   “I would have thought so,” Ryan said. “There are quite a lot of rocks right around there. If they’re not careful, they’re going to tear a hole in their hull.”

    “Maybe they—”

    _BOOM!_

    “Cannon fire!” one of the other soldiers shouted, his cry half drowned out by a second _BOOM_ from the mysterious ship. The men immediately scrambled into action, clustering behind walls and around cannons as they prepared to return fire.

    “Ryan, get down!” Jack called, grabbing his friend’s arm when Ryan failed to dive for cover with everyone else.

    “They’re not shooting at us,” Ryan said quickly, motioning to the ship as it fired again. A huge splash showed where their shot hit at the base of the cliffs, far away from any place that would have caused damage to Nassau Port.

    “That doesn’t mean they won’t,” Jack hissed, though his own curiosity was admittedly piqued. “What do you think they’re doing?”

    “I don’t know,” Ryan started to say, trailing off mid-word when he spotted the scaly form that appeared between the cannonball splashes. “They couldn’t be,” he whispered.

    “Couldn’t what?” Jack asked. Ryan didn’t get a chance to answer before their captain appeared, orders already on his lips.

    “Men, everyone, get to the docks!” Ramsey shouted, “I want only cannon-men left on this wall, everyone else get to _The Hunt_ ; we’ll pursue them on equal footing!”

    Ryan and Jack scrambled to join their crewmates as they poured off the wall and towards the ships, Ramsey continuing to shout orders even before they’d set foot on a boat deck. Ryan’s thoughts flashed to what he’d seen and he wondered briefly if he should tell his captain about it, but then they were on board _The Hunt_ and instinct had him moving to his station before he’d finished the thought.

    “Cast off!” Ramsey was shouting, “I want sails free and this ship on open waters in the next minute and a half!”

    As _The Hunt_ burst to life, the crew of the _Ruby_ was already moving through a coordinated strategy devised by Jenkins herself. While Lindsay and Kara continued to fire into the water, destroying the seabed and creating chaos, another group was dropping a weighted net down the ship’s other side to catch anything the cannon fire might chase out. 

    “Captain, look!”

    “What?” Jenkins snapped, turning away from the girls who were manning the net to scowl at her helmsmen.

    “One of the navy ships is leaving the dock,” Arryn said quickly, pointing into the harbor. “I think they might be coming after us.”

    “Why the hell would they do that?” Jenkins hissed, raising her telescope to get a better look at the ship. She spotted its captain quickly enough, her gaze quickly finding the man’s elaborate mustache. “I don’t recognize him.”

    “The ship looks new,” Arryn agreed.

    “Just what we need. Crew, we’re moving out!” Jenkins cried. “Haul in what we’ve got and prepare to return to open waters. It looks like we’re going to have a pursuit on our hands!”

    Beneath the water, Gavin was thanking his lucky stars for whatever had the women hauling up their net. The black ship had sailed right up along where the mermen had been resting in the water, and they’d only just barely made it into the rocks before the ship had begun to fire on them. It was a tactic they’d heard of before but never personally witnessed. The stories of explosive destruction and deafening noise had not done the absolute, mind numbing terror of it all justice.

    The trio had panicked, rushing from their hiding places and in the only direction the cannons would allow—right under the attacking ship. Just as they’d passed under its hull a large, woven net had dropped into the water over top of them. Ray and Michael had managed to pass beneath it before it hit the sands and trapped Gavin under its weight.

    Gavin had cried out in panic, thrashing against the material as Ray and Michael hurried back to try and help. By some stroke of luck the net had lifted almost as soon as it had touched the sands and Gavin had been able to wiggle free before it wrapped around him. As soon as their companion was free they’d darted out towards the open water, diving down towards the depths they prayed were safe enough.

    “What the hell was that?” Gavin gasped once they’d stopped among a cluster of rocks to catch their breath.

    “I don’t know,” Ray whispered. His eyes were still wide with fright, gaze darting between Michael and Gavin.

    “It must have been those fucking hunters Burnie was telling us about,” Michael spat, gaze darting back to the dark silhouette up above. A growl, deep and primal, rumbled in his chest as the ship sailed over them.

    “At least they’re leaving,” Ray said, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. “We should get back to that cave for the night, in case they come back.”

    “That sounds like a fantastic idea,” Gavin said. Michael was about to agree when something caught his gaze—a second ship's silhouette, hurrying after the first.

    “Oh no,” he whispered, his muscles tensing.

    “What?” Ray’s gaze darted from Michael to the second ship and back. “Oh no, please tell me that’s not who I think it is.”

    His answer was Michael shooting off after the ships without another word.

    “Can’t we just leave him to it?” Gavin asked, gaze pleading. Ray threw his hands up in defeat.

    “I swear, if this kid gets me killed,” he grumbled, he and Gavin hurrying quickly after their friend.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As a battle breaks out on the open seas, Michael will have to make a choice--leave the humans to their fight, or risk his own life for a complete stranger?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Longer than usual wait for this one, but hey, it's finally here! Yay! Also, if any one is on tumblr, you can follow me at mr-frank-writes.tumblr.com for updates about what's happening story wise and for little story bits that don't always make it here. Enjoy the fic, and let me know what you think!

     _The Hunt_  surged across the dark surf, the light vessel gaining steadily on the ship with red sails. Jack was up top, manning the sails, while Ryan had gone bellow to join the other men who were gathering at the cannons.

    “We’re almost on them, men!” Ramsey cried, “Ready the cannons!”

    A flurry of activity answered him, Ryan moving through a coordinated routine with the younger man on the other side of his cannon. He was fairly new to the navy, and unused to naval battles if the slight shaking in his hands was anything to go by. Despite his nerves he loaded a cannonball into the gun and moved back so that Ryan could pack some more powder down with it.

    “Are you ready?” he asked the young man, who was fumbling with a flint and steel.

    “Uh, oh, yeah, I’m good,” the other soldier said quickly. Ryan took the strikers from his shaking hands and handed the boy the lighter. Striking the stones together, he asked,

    “What’s your name?”

    “Uh, Denecore, sir. Caleb.”

    “Nice to meet you, Caleb,” Ryan said as the lighter caught flame. “My name’s Ryan.”

    “Nice to meet you too.” Caleb looked like he was thinking he wanted to say more but wasn’t sure how when a shout from further down the line of cannons saved him the trouble.

    “She’s coming around!” one of the men called. Ryan leant around his own cannon, peering into the darkness. He couldn’t see anything, save for the dark, still waters below and the cloudy night sky above.

    And then the other ship was right alongside them, the dark hull materializing out of the darkness. Its cannons were poised, one of the black iron weapons coming even with Ryan’s own.

    “Fire!” Ramsey bellowed from above deck, one of the men below mirroring the order. Ryan lit the fuse on his cannon, motioning for Caleb to lean away from the large gun, when everything suddenly exploded around them.

    The other ship’s cannonball must have gone right into their own weapon, blocking their own projectile from firing outwards. Instead the blast had been directed in, towards the men huddled at the back of the cannon. The back of the gun exploded open, hurling hunks of hot iron in all directions and breaking the cannon loose from the ropes that held it. Hot metal was pelting Ryan a moment before the ship lurched and he and the cannon went tumbling over one another. He could feel something  _crunch_  as the gun rolled over him, and then it was slamming into his face and everything went dark.

* * *

    “Nice shot!”

    “Thanks, Kara,” Lindsay said as she loaded another cannonball. A half dozen of the lady pirates were taking well aimed shots at the other ship, with praise worthy results. Jenkins, still uncertain of the naval vessels intentions, had ordered them to disable the thing’s weapons and little else until she could figure out more. That has been no trouble for the well-practiced cannon-women, as one by one they blasted apart the ship’s guns.

    Up on deck they could hear the girls preparing to board, Jenkins shouting a barrage of orders. Jenkins herself was pacing the deck, a revolver in one hand and her sword in the other, directing some of her crew up into the sails. Two girls dove gracefully over the side, where they would board the ship from bellow, while Barbara and deceptively sweet young lady named Caiti prepared to come down on the enemy ship from above.

    “Go get’em, ladies!” Jenkins cried, raising her sword. Her crew cheered in response, Barbara and Caiti launching themselves down on the soldiers. Another woman ran to the rail and leapt the distance between the two ships, clothes-lining a man to the ground as she landed. Barbara went straight for the mustached man, her sword swirling expertly, while Caiti grabbed a man who was trying to defend him and sent him toppling into the water in a quick display of her surprising strength.

    Beneath  _The Hunt_ ’s deck, Caleb scrambled over to Ryan, trying to ignore the sounds of battle above him. He called the man’s name, but as he reached him he realized quickly that he wasn’t going to get a response. Ryan was still half pinned under the cannon, his face bloodied and his body limp.

    “Oh  _shit_ ,” Caleb hissed, casting about for someone to help him with the injured man. None of the other men below deck seemed to have noticed their crewmate’s plight, their attention on the cannonballs landing at the edge of the ship’s hull.

    Another explosion rocked the ship as the cannon at the opposite end of the galley swallowed an enemy cannonball of its own.  _The Hunt_  swayed back with the impact, sailors crying out as the damaged cannons shifted with it. Caleb scrambled to stop the cannon atop Ryan from crushing the man further as the floor below them tilted first one way and then back.

    And then Caleb was forced to dodge as the cannon spun towards him and back towards the firing hole in the side of the ship. The weight of the weapon pulled Ryan with it, both cannon and sailor tumbling towards the opening in the hull. Caleb cried out, lurching after his crewmate, only for Ryan’s hand to slip through his fingers as he and the weapon broke through the already damaged hull.

    “Fuck, fuck,  _fuck_ ,” Caleb gasped as he scrambled after Ryan, ready to dive in after the man—

    When a hand on his shoulder spun him around, and suddenly he was face to face with a fierce looking brunette.

    Caleb barely had enough time to wonder what a girl was doing on the ship before her fist flashed across his vision and everything faded to black.

* * *

     _Almost there, I’m almost there_ , Michael thought, over and over, as he closed in on the shape of the two ships. They’d slowed, the first ship now having circled back towards  _The Hunt_. Michael had seen enough of pirates and sailors and merchants fighting it out on the seas to recognize an impending battle when he saw one. The thought sent a spike of fear through him.

    The ships were exchanging blows by the time Michael reached them. He tried to get to the side of  _The Hunt_ , not sure of what he was even going to do when he got there, but a rain of cannonballs stopped him short.  He was forced to retreat to avoid being crushed by one of the projectiles, pacing in safer water as he tried to look for a path up to the dueling ships.

    “Now what,” Ray gasped as he reached Michael’s side, panting as he caught the other merman’s arm to steady himself.

    “I don’t know,” Michael whispered, eyes wide. “Ray, I don’t know what to do.”

    “There’s nothing we  _can_  do,” Gavin said, arriving on the boy’s other side and scanning the turbulent waters. “We need to stay back here, where it’s safe.”

    “I don’t know if I can,” Michael ground out, tail darting back and forth. His gaze never left  _The Hunt_ ’s embattled hull.

    Michael was the first to spot the body that fellow from the hunt. He couldn't make out the person's features, but their build was familiar enough to have him bolting through the water, headless of the danger around him.

     "Michael, wait!" Ray's cry went unheaded as Michael approached the boats, eyes only for the man treading water at the surface. Two more splashed sounded nearby as some of the women from the other ship entered the water. One  of them went straight for the sailor, while the other waited underwater for a moment, orienting herself.

     She must have noticed Michael from the corner of her eye, because her gaze suddenly snapped to the merman. She had a knife in both hands, and there was something decidedly predatory in the way she looked at him. Michael's blood ran cold and he hesitated. The other woman was almost on top of the sailor in the water, this woman hovering between Michael and his attempted rescue.

     His racing thoughts were jolted out of place by something crashing through the surface above him. Michael and the pirate woman both jerked back as something large and metal dropped quickly past them.

     A...cannon? Michael thought as the weapon passed. His gaze snapped to something caught up in the gun, a body in a naval uniform surrounded by a cloud of blood--

     "Ryan!"

     Michael darted after he man, immediately forgetting the pirate hovering in the water with him. Out of the corner of his eye he could see her moving towards him, and them something dark darted past, vanishing just as quickly and taking the pirate with it. Michael didn't bother to see what had saved him, eyes only for the man sinking quickly away from him.

    _I'm coming, I'm coming,_ Michael thought, tail pounding against the water. The water temperature dropped around him as he swam deeper, hurrying to catch Ryan before the man sank any deeper into the gloom. Fear clutched Michael's heart. As long as Ryan was tangled in the cannon he would continue to sink quickly, and the merman was convinced that by the time he reached the soldier they would be too deep for him to get Ryan back to the surface again before he'd drowned.

    The fear spurred Michael on, giving him the energy to close to distance between himself and Ryan. He grabbed the man's arms, allowing the cannon to roll off of him and continue to sink away.

    Michael pulled the man close, tucking him tightly against his chest, and for a moment everything around them stopped. Michael only had eyes for the man in his arms, for his closed eyes and pale face, for the bruises beginning to bloom around his eyes and the way the man draped limp in his arms.

     _He's dying_ , Michael realized suddenly, and that thought alone was enough to spur him to action, the merman soaring back towards the surface. He could still see the silhouettes of the battling ships in the distance, and some part of his mind noticed the darting shapes of the mermen amongst the chaos. He swam away from all of that, heading for a calmer stretch of surface.

    "Ryan, Ryan," he gasped as soon as they broke the surface. He shifted the man in his arms, trying to position him so that his head remained above the water. "Ryan, can you hear me?"

    The man in his arms, still limp and pale, didn't respond. Michael's heart pounded, his stomach in his throat.

    "You're going to be okay, it's going to be okay," Michael gasped, casting about for somewhere to go. He could still see the cliff's of Nassau in the distance, the lights of the fort gleaming through the night's darkness. "Okay, okay," Michael whispered, beginning to head for the cliffs. "I'm going to get you to safety Ryan, I promise, just hold on."

    It was slow going, paddling across the surface with Ryan in his arms, but Michael refused to let himself think about anything but getting Ryan somewhere safe where he could try and heal him. He could still hear the ships battling behind him, though the sounds of cannons was slowly giving way to shouts and then cheers, mostly female sounding. Michael's thoughts flashed continually to his friends, who he was no almost certain had thrown themselves into the fray.

    The women had been hunters of merpeople, of that he was almost positive, and his mind kept racing with thoughts of the merpeople in their pod  covered in scars from their encounters with hunters--fins carved from their bodies, patches of scales scraped away by long, ragged knives. He kept picturing Gavin pinned down in a net, or Ray held down by knife wielding women.

    His heart was pounding with such fear he was certain it was going to burst.

    Michael couldn't tell if he reached the cliffs sooner than expected, or if he'd been so distracted by thoughts of everyone else that he just hadn't realized how long he'd been swimming, but suddenly the rocks were upon him and he was forced to stop and begin searching for somewhere where he could get Ryan out of the water and onto some semblance of dry land.

    The clouds up above scuttled away from the moon, and in the sudden spill of moonlight a small cave, barely a crack in the cliffs, was illuminated. Michael rushed towards it, scooting himself and Ryan through the small gap in the rocks.

    "Look, Ryan, we're safe, we're finally safe."

    Thankfully the cliff opened up inside to reveal a small, deep pool surrounded on almost all sides by a wide, rocky ledge. It sloped into the water, making it easy for a thoroughly tired Michael to ease Ryan out of the water. He wriggled up onto the ledge, tugging the soldier with him until they were both free of the water.

    "See, Ryan? Michael panted, scooting close to the man. "See, we're safe now. I'm going to take care of you." He lifted himself up over the young man, hands framing his bloodied face. "Damn, Ryan," Michael breathed, brushing a thumb across a gash in the man's cheek. "You look like shit."

    Ryan's face was covered in cuts and bruises, blood oozing from his ears and nose. Michael couldn't tell if the man's chest was moving or not, and when he touched it to check he felt bones shifting beneath his hand.

    "Fuck," Michael breathed. "Alright, let's fix this. Although, I have to warn you now, I'm not the best healer out there. You'd probably be a lot better with Ray here."

    Michael was no stranger to needing healing--between Gavin and himself, there was a near constant need in their group for a good healing song. Unfortunately, because it was Michael and Gavin getting injured, it was usually Ray fixing the injuries, so Michael's healing skills were more than a little rusty.

    "But I'm going to do my best," Michael whispered. Taking Ryan's face in his hands, Michael closed his eyes and focused on man beneath him, on the slow, sluggish flow of the man's blood, on the faint electrical pulses firing haphazardly through his body. "I can do this," Michael whispered softly. And then he began to sing.

    The sound echoed throughout the cave, a cacophony of sound that would just begin to flow before an errant note would send the song toppling over itself again. Despite the lack of melody, Michael's voice remained clear and strong. And slowly, eventually, the body beneath him began to respond.

    By the time the energy in the man below him returned to something healthy and living Michael's muscles were stiff and throat raw, but the knots in his stomach had finally settled to something slightly less painful as he realized that the strange man who'd mysteriously captured his attention wasn't about to die in his arms. Breathing hard, it took all Michael had to shimmy back into the water and sink down, letting the warmth of the salt water cocoon him and lull him into a dreamless, exhausted sleep.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As Captain Ramsey and his first mate find themselves embroiled in battle with the mysterious female pirates, an unexpected ally comes to their aid...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oops, long wait ^^. Another action-y chapter, which I find frustratingly difficult to write. Any feedback or advice would be appreciated! Also, any fans of the hybrid au may like my newest fic, "When the Time Comes." As always, enjoy :)

    "Jesus Christ," Ramsey shouted as the Hunt jolted to one side with an echoing blast that shook the planks beneath his feet. "What the hell are they doing?"

    "I think they're trying to disable the canons," Jack said, shifting closer to his Captain. He'd clambered out of the sails as soon as the other ship had moved along side them, sword drawn as he rushed to defend the older man.

    "What the hell do they even want?"

    "I have no--look out!"

    Two pirates materialized out of the darkness without warning, sailing out of the sky towards them. One was falling towards Ramsey, her sword leading the charge, while the other landed in a lithe crouch a few feet away from Jack. The clang of weapons meeting filled the air as Ramsey engaged his high-flying opponent. Jack spun towards the sound, his first instinct to protect his captain.

    "I wouldn't turn your back on me if I were you." 

    Jack only barely managed to block the cutlass swinging for his face. The pirate woman he faced was small, but her sword carried enough force to leave his arms shaking with the effort of holding her back. Her narrow face was split with a terrible grin, her wide eyes bright with the fire of battle.

    "What do you want with us?" Jack demanded.

    "Wouldn't you like to know," the pirate spat, continuing to smile. "You're cute," she added suddenly. "It's almost a shame I'm going to have to get rid of you."

    Jack's next questions was cut off by his own startled yelp as the woman dropped, spinning quickly behind him. Her leg swung out, knocking Jack's legs out from under him, and before he'd even hit the deck her tiny hands were wrapping around his arm. She rolled, pulling him across her body, and, using more strength than such a small woman really ought to possess, she heaved him over the ship's rail.

    Jack barely had enough time to shout before warm salt water was crashing over him. He flailed out against the dark water, kicking out in his rush to get back to the surface. He could hear the other ship's cannons firing, and could feel the impacts of the projectiles in the water. He was currently in the very last place he wanted to be, and his first priority was now to get as far away from that place as possible.

    As he reached the surface something dropped down right in front of him, and for a terrifying moment Jack thought they’d actually turned the cannons right on him.

    And then a face—beautiful and fierce—broke the surface in front of him.

    Crying out, Jack splashed water in the pirates face and flailed backwards. He could see the glint of light on the dagger clenched in the woman’s teeth and scrabbled for his own, sheathed at his waist. His fingers found only an empty scabbard. The pirate’s knife was in her hands now and she was advancing, undaunted by the waves and cannon fire.

    And then her eyes went wide, mouth forming a small, surprised ‘o’ before she vanished beneath the waves. Jack kicked out, searching the choppy waters for any sign of the woman. Was she tricking him, about to come up from below and gut him?

    He was so focused on finding the pirate that it was a moment before he realized something else has surfaced in front of him, a head of damp black hair and glowing silver eyes. Even in the darkness Jack could make out the ebony scales trailing the half-hidden figure’s hairline.

    The battle faded away as Jack’s heart thudded its way into his throat.

    _A Mermaid._

    It took him a long moment to find his breath, and when he did he managed to choke out a shaking, “Are—are you here to drown me?”

    Dark eyebrows drew together and the merman lifted further out of the water.

    “You know, a thank you never killed anybody,” he said, before vanishing back under surf.

    Jack blinked, staring at the space the merman had just inhabited. Was...that it, he wondered.

    When something wrapped around Jack’s ankle he realized no, it was not, just before water splashed over his head once more. It took his eyes a moment to adjust to the murk, and when they did he found himself face to face, not with silver eyes, but a pale face surrounded by a cloud of wild blonde hair. Another pirate. Her teeth, sharpened to ragged yellow points, were bared in a horrible grin.

    There was a flash of color in the water behind the woman, shimmering blue and green, but she didn't seem to notice. The fury in her gaze was only for Jack as he her hands shot forward, tightening around the lapels of his coat. She didn’t have a knife to attack with, but as she opened her mouth wide Jack realized she didn’t need one. She arched back, preparing to sink her jagged smile into his neck.

    The sound started low at first, eerie and echoing in the dark, turbulent waters, before quickly gaining volume. The woman held her arched pose, eyes widening with her confusion. Jack knew he needed to act quickly, while she was distracted by the sound, but when he went to pry her hands off, his arms refused to move. He tried to kick away, but his whole body was frozen.

    His mind jumped to Ryan’s story, of how the mermen’s song had stopped him from doing anything. Was this the song that echoed around them now? The pirate hadn’t moved either, and her fiery expression had become frightened. They were going to drown together, locked in eternal battle and accompanied by the deathly siren song of the merpeople.

    There was another flash of color, sparkling blue-green, and then something man-sized slammed into the pirate and tore her away. A powerful turquoise tail buffeted Jack before propelling the pirate down into the dark depths.

    A moment later and two silver points, glowing like stars, floated before Jack. They were surrounded by a now familiar tanned face, marred by what could only be described as a disapproving frown. Arms appeared around Jack as the merman from before hauled him back to the surface.

    Jack gasped as he finally reached the much needed air. He tried to kick out, get away from the sea creature that had him in its clutches, but his legs hadn’t yet decided to start listening to him again.

    “Hey, whoa, stop,” the merman snapped, wrestling to keep his grip on the squirming sailor. “Do you want me to fucking drop you?”

    And there it was, talking again. No one had ever said mermen could _talk._ Jack's mind was whirling with the surrealism of it all.

    “Fucking?” Jack managed to gasp. “Did you say fucking?”

    “Are you serious right now?" the merman asked. "I just saved your life twice, and all you’re going to do is complain about my language?”

    “Why are helping me?” Jack tried instead.

    “Because I’m a fucking sap.”

    Well, that answer didn’t do much to enlighten him either, but he decided for the moment that his answers could wait. His body still felt heavy and sluggish, and he knew that, if not for the merman holding him up, he would have already sunk deep below the waves to never return.

    No more pirates surfaced around them, and Jack assumed that, after seeing the fate of their fellows, they’d decided to hang back at a safer distance. He could hear shouting atop their ragged pirate ship, but couldn’t quite make out what they were saying over the water lapping at his ears. The merman, however, seemed very intent on the conversation happening above them, his head cocked towards the dark ship. The pirates' shouting increased in volume and the merman’s eyes went wide. Jack wanted to ask what he’d heard, but before he could he found himself being shoved roughly away.

    He sank below the waves again, the wash of saltwater washing away the last of the fuzziness clinging to his muscles. Something crashed through the water beside him and he kicked further back, scanning for any sign of the merman. A fog of netting filled his gaze instead. Through the crisscross of ropes, Jack could just make out the shimmering flashes of the merman as he darted frantically against the net.

    _They’re capturing him_ , Jack realized suddenly. He kicked forward, grabbing onto the net and trying to drag it off of the struggling merman. The merman quickly joined him, eyes wide with fright as they worked at the ropes. But Jack could tell his attempts were futile—already the net was trying to pull away from him as the pirates hauled it back out of the water.

    The merman was shouting now, in his own sing-song language. His powerful tail swung out, but he only managed to get it further tangled in the netting. He cried out, reaching for Jack as the net broke the surface.

    “We’ve got one!” The triumphant cry rang out from the pirate ship’s deck, followed by cheers. The next lifted faster.

    “No, no!” Jack shouted, clinging to the netting. He didn’t have his knife, but there had to be something he could use to cut the net. The Merman was biting at the rope, clawed hands digging frantically into the fibers.

    At Jack’s shout, the merman’s gaze shot back to the solider still holding stubbornly to the net. Something in the merman’s gaze shifted and, with a suddenness Jack wouldn’t have expected, he grabbed at Jack’s hands. For a moment Jack thought the merman was trying to cling to him, trying to stop him from leaving, but a moment later he felt claws in his fingers and realized the opposite was true—the merman was trying to pry him loose.

    “What are you doing?” Jack shouted as his grip started to slip.

    “They’re not taking both of us up there,” the merman hissed. Jack readjusted his grip, not about to abandon the creature that had saved his life. The merman had other plans.

    With a flash of white, the merman dug his teeth into Jack’s hand. The solider cried out, jerking his hand away, and as he did the merman pried his other hand loose. The priates' cheers and his own angry shout trailed him as he dropped back into the saltwater below.

\--

    Captain Ramsey spun in a circle, blade flashing between two pirates. One was the small women who’d tossed Jack over the side, the other a dark haired woman with two cutlass blades strapped to her back. She wielded these weapons with practiced ease, and it was all Ramsey could do to defend himself from her whirling attacks. Her companion, nimble and lithe, kept darting in between them to slash at Ramsey’s chest and stomach with her small, sharp blade.

    Ramsey parried one of these swipes now, ducking a moment later as a cutlass swept the air above him.

    They were pushing him slowly across the deck as they fought, leading him towards one of the low rails at the edge of the ship. They were more than likely going to try and toss him overboard, like they had to Jack. This must have been their plan, he thought, to clear _The Hunt_ and take her as their own.

    They were at the railing now, and, despite Ramsey’s attempts to keep the women between himself and the rail, the captain was finding himself getting uncomfortably close to the edge. The woman with the cutlasses grinned and swung towards him. She aimed straight for his head, her message clear—jump or you’re done.

    She was barely a foot from Ramsey when something splashed up the rail. The captain just made out a flash of turquoise sparkle  before the woman was being pulled over the rail and out of sight. Ramsey spun to face the other woman, but she was already darting back across the deck. Bounding up the mast, she scurried fearlessly to the end of the rigging and back-flipped through the air to the sails of her own ship.

    As soon as she was gone Ramsey glanced over the rail, hoping to catch a glimpse of who had saved him.

    Glowing blue eyes, pearlescent in the moonlight, stared back. He could just make out the shimmering tail shifting back and forth below the surface.

    “You’ve got to be kidding me,” Ramsey mumbled. The merman grinned at him.

    “You’re welcome,” he said brightly.

    “So what, now you're friendly?” Ramsey asked, frowning at the merman.

    “Helping the friend of a friend,” the merman offered, still grinning. Ramsey’s gaze darted from the merman’s bright eyes to his shimmering scales and he bit the inside of his lip, thinking furiously. 

    "You've been following us this whole time, haven't you? All the way to Nassau?"

    "Maybe," blue eyes avoided his gaze.

    "Why?"

    The merman frowned, like he wasn’t sure he should talk about it. He was saved the trouble by a sudden cheer coming from the direction of the pirate’s vessel.  Geoff turned towards the sound, only to turn back when the merman splashed up, latching onto the rail and using it to hoist himself up to see the other ship as well. A startled gasp escaped the merman and Geoff quickly spun back in time to see the pirates hauling something from the water.

    It was a net, something caught inside.

    And something caught on the outside, too.

    “Jack!” Ramsey cried. Behind him the merman disappeared from the side of the ship with a splash. The captain dashed across the deck, reaching the opposite rail just as Jack fell from the netting with a pained cry. Now that he was closer he could make out the contents of the net—it was another merman, one webbed hand reaching after Jack as he fell. The merman was crying out in his own language and, even though he didn’t understand the words, Ramsey could still recognize the fear echoing in the creature’s voice.

    Another voice, just as frightened, joined him a moment before the turquoise merman emerged from the water, launching himself at the net.

\--

    Water splashed over Jack a moment before the unmistakable form of another merman hurled itself at the net quickly rising up the side of the ship. Jack acted on what felt like pure instinct, hands darting out. He thought he heard something approving shouted by the silver-eyed merman as Jack pulled the other back into the water.

    “Let me go!” the newcomer cried, thrashing in Jack’s grip. The solider did the opposite, circling his arms around the merman’s waist and holding tight as his companion was hauled onto the pirate ship.

    “What are you trying to do?” Jack hissed into the new merman’s ear. “Do you want them to catch you too? How will you help your friend then?” He wasn’t even sure the two mermen were friends, or if mermen could even _have_ friends. But his instincts seemed correct, as the merman in his arms stilled.

    “We have to help him,” the merman whispered. He was clutching Jack’s arms now, as if afraid to let go.

    “We will, we’ll get him back,” Jack said. It wasn’t a promise he had any idea of how to keep, but he made it all the same. The merman had saved his life, after all. He owed him no less than the same. Not that he would be able to save anyone if those pirates decided to scoop up himself and his seafaring companion, he thought suddenly. His gaze darted up to the ship, prepared to see another net flying down on top of them. His new companion seemed to be thinking something similar. With a few beats of his tail, he propelled them away from the pirate ship.

    But it seemed the women were not focused on what was in the waters below them. One of them, perched high on the mast with a brass telescope in hand, was pointing into the distance and shouting down to the women below. Her words drifted down to Jack and his chest filled with relief.

    She'd spotted another navy ship, and it was heading their way.

    “There’s a ship full of soldiers coming, people like me,” Jack whispered quickly. “I can’t guarantee they won’t go after you like the pirates did, so you need to stay hidden, okay? But don’t go after those pirates either. If they capture you too, there’s nothing I can do to save you guys. Got it?”

    There was a moment of hesitation, the merman glancing between Jack and the ship. It was quickly putting distance between them, the pirate vessel already beginning to vanish into the darkness. The merman nodded. Jack slowly released his grip on him, wondering if he would just dart after the retreating ship anyway.

    He didn’t. Spinning around, the merman pushed Jack back beside his own vessel and then, with an uncertain smile, darted below the surface.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Help has arrived!...Or has it? Geoff learns a shocking truth about his navy's role in the Caribbean...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's back! With plot twists to boot! Thank you to everyone who took the time to leave comments, your kind words are nothing but inspiring :3

   Geoff sighed, sinking into the luxurious leather chair. The drink on the table swayed with the motion of the ship, ice cubes clinking against the glass. He grabbed it and took a long swig, hissing appreciatively as the alcohol burned its way down. Captain Heyman only kept the best on hand.

    The captain was sitting across the table nursing his own drink, watching Geoff contemplatively. Geoff offered him a nod.

    “That was some good fucking timing, you know that?”

    “Glad I could help,” Heyman said. His ship, the Dawn Crow, and its crew were veterans of the Caribbean waters. Their timely arrival had sent the _Ruby_ and her collection of pirates scrambling. After anchoring together, Heyman had invited Geoff’s crew aboard to have their injuries treated.

    The merman from before had vanished when the other naval ship had arrived, and Geoff had left his existence out of his retelling of the events that had transpired.

    As they sat quietly sipping their drinks, a member of Heyman’s crew slipped in, offering Geoff a polite nod.

    “We’re finished assessing the injuries from the Hunt’s crew. All are mostly minor, except for a man with a wound to his arm.” Quietly, he added, “Only one loss, sir.”

    “Thank you,” Heyman said. His gaze remained on Geoff as he dismissed the man. Geoff avoided eye contact, lifting his drink back to his lips and finishing the glass. “I’m sorry for your loss. I’m sure he fought bravely.”

    “I’m sure,” Geoff mumbled, voice rough. He frowned, playing with his glass. “We shouldn’t wait too long to begin pursuit. Those pirates will be familiar with these waters, and we don’t want to give them an undue head start.”

    “Don’t worry about pursuit,” Heyman said. “Leave that to me and my men. Your crew needs time to recover from all that’s happened.”

    “Then allow me to come with you,” Geoff said. “My men can look after themselves, my second will make sure of it. I would rather be with you when you capture those women.”

    “I’m sure you would,” Heyman said gently. “But believe me, hunting pirates in these waters in my crew’s specialty. You would only be a hindrance on an unfamiliar ship. Stay with your men and let me handle this.”

    “Joel, we’ve sailed together plenty of times before,” Geoff said, brow furrowing as he met Heyman’s gaze, “so you know I’m not going to be in the way. What’s the real problem here?”

    “What makes you think there’s a problem?”

    “Why don’t you want me or my men pursuing pirates?”

    “I never said that,” Heyman said quickly, leaning back in his chair. “Of course I want you going after pirates, that’s why you and your men were brought to the Caribbean in the first place.”

    “You just don’t want us pursuing these pirates.”

    Heyman’s silence was enough of an answer for Geoff. Pushing his glass aside, he leaned forward, folding his hands on the table. He’d heard whispered rumors of black market partnerships between the Queen’s elite and the ocean’s less reputable, but he wouldn’t have thought his friend would be part of one of them.

    “What are you getting from them?”

    “Did you see anything…strange during your skirmish with the _Ruby_?”

    “What?”

    Now Heyman leaned forward too. He hesitated for a moment, gathering his thoughts.

    “I know you and your men are familiar with the rumors of things…not quite natural living in the waters around here.”

    Geoff’s mind flashed to the mermen, and he struggled to keep his expression neutral.

    “You mean like sea monsters and stuff?” he asked, trying to look incredulous.

    “Something like that. Any worthwhile sailor knows the stories of sea beasts and siren songs. But what if I told you they were true?”

    “I would tell you that’s ridiculous.”

    “It isn’t.” Heyman reached behind his chair, towards a chest of drawers and the small, oiled box sitting on top. He placed the box on the table between himself and Geoff, and at Geoff’s questioning look motioned for him to open it. Geoff flipped open the brass latch, glancing back at Heyman as he lifted the lid.

    Inside a pile of disks, like flattened, multicolored coins, glittered back at him. They were silver and vermilion, emerald and yellow, with a pearly shine that made the silk that held them look as impressive as burlap. Something hard and cold settled in Geoff’s stomach. He recognized the shape of scales, larger and more ornate than anything he’d ever seen on fish.

    “What are these?” he whispered, despite being sure he already knew.

    “The locals call them ‘Aycayia,’ after one of their Goddesses. Half person, half fish. You’ve probably heard them called mermaids, or sirens.”

    “Mermaids aren’t real,” Geoff said, rolling his eyes even as his throat went dry.

    “They’re as real as you and me, and a prize catch too. Those scales are as strong as steel when they dry, and never lose their color or luster. I can get one hundred pounds for just one of those back home. You’d be amazed what a whole tail can fetch.”

    “A whole…?”

    “Yep.” Heyman must have mistaken Geoff’s masked horror for curiosity, because he got up and moved to a wardrobe across the room. His expression was grim as he opened its doors. What had to be a dozen fish-like tails hung there, as brilliantly colored as the scales had been. “Locals love the stuff,” Heyman continued. “They’ll even buy the eyes and teeth.”

    Geoff had to swallow twice before he could respond.

    “And what, you guys hunt them?”

    “Not us.”

    “The pirates?”

    “You got it.” Heyman dropped back into his seat with a deep sigh. “Those women you met tonight are expert mer-hunters. I’ve seen them bring in as many as four bodies in a single week. And they’re not afraid to use whatever means are necessary to do so.”

    “And you trade with them?”

    “The Royal Navy trades with them,” Heyman corrected. “What do you think funded your fancy new ship out there?”

    Geoff couldn’t hide the way the blood drained from his face. Heyman offered him a knowing look.

    “You saw one, didn’t you?” Geoff didn’t answer, and Heyman continued, “That’s what they were doing at the port. They chase the creatures up to the rocks with their cannons and net them. We usually go after them in mock pursuit once they’ve taken in a capture.”

    “Must have been surprised by a real pursuit,” Geoff said.

    “I think that’s why they came back at you. They realized you were new to the area. Our agreement is that they never open fire on a naval ship. None of your crew should have been injured, and they will be reprimanded for it accordingly.”

    “Reprimanded?” Geoff repeated, unable to keep the laugh out of his voice. “I didn’t realize we were simply reprimanding pirates for killing soldiers now.” Heyman glanced away. Geoff thought he could see a glimmer of the furry he was feeling in the other captain’s eyes, but when he looked back, it was replaced with something cold and indifferent.

    “We do when they’re a valuable trade partner.”

    “I think it’s time you allowed my crew and I to return to our ship,” Geoff said softly. He did nothing to hide the contempt from his voice. Heyman narrowed his eyes.

    “Geoffrey, I need you to understand. That ship is under the protection of the Royal Navy and all its forces. If I let you leave and you pursue it again, you will be committing what is tantamount to treason.”

    “Last I checked, pirates aren’t allowed to enlist in the navy.”

    “Unfortunately, that’s no longer the case. Not in Caribbean waters.”

    “Then we’ll be returning to our ship.”

    “Geoff—”

    “Joel, you can’t tell me you’re going to protect them! That ship is full of murderers, and one of my men is dead because the law is more concerned with helping them brutalize innocent creatures than it is with protecting his own.”

    “We don’t get to choose the laws we help to defend, Captain Ramsey. Only whether or not we will do our duty to them.”

    “Letting murderers sail off into the sunset unpunished is not my duty,” Geoff hissed. “Now, I’m only going to ask one more time. Let me return to my ship, or my crew and I will be forced to sink yours first.”

    “I was afraid you would say something like that,” Heyman said. Genuine unhappiness hovered in his gaze, but so did steely determination as his pistol appeared in his hand, aimed at Geoff’s head. “Shawcross, get in here!” Heyman barked. The messenger from before stepped back in, his own weapon drawn as well. “Has the Hunt’s crew been secured?”

    “Yes sir.”

    “Please see to it that Captain Ramsey here is made comfortable with his crew.”

    “Will do.”

    Shawcross motioned for Geoff to follow him. With two pistols trained on him, and his crew captive, Geoff wasn’t willing to risk anyone else’s lives. He held Heyman’s gaze as Shawcross ushered him out of the captain’s quarters. The last thing he saw before the door shut between them was Heyman’s apologetic gaze, and the cabinet of tails behind him.

\--

    Pain, radiating in waves from his nose to the back of his head, dragged Ryan out of unconsciousness. He groaned, his face scrunching around the pressure filling his sinuses. His nose was packed with the smell of saltwater.

    “Are you awake now?”

    Ryan’s eyes jerked open at the unfamiliar voice. Gold eyes stared down at him. _Those_ were familiar.

    “Am I dead?” Ryan mumbled. The gold eyes rolled.

    “No, despite your best efforts.” The gold eyes pulled back, revealing a freckled face framed with damp, curly hair. Orange-red scales trailed the sides of his face. “You’re welcome, by the way.”

    “Thanks.” Salt clung to Ryan’s eyelashes. When he rubbed it away his hand came back dusted with reddish flakes.

    “You were bleeding.” The merman grabbed Ryan’s hand before he could continue picking at his face. Before Ryan could ask why, he was jolted by flashes of memory—the bright blasts of cannon fire, a fiery explosion dangerously close to his face.

    “The ship!” Ryan jerked upright, causing a flare of pain across his stomach. He groaned, clutching his side as the merman shoved him back down.

    “Would you calm down?”

    “We were under attack,” Ryan muttered, trying to shift away from the merman’s fumbling hands.

    “No shit. Why do you think I had to rescue you?”

    “You…?” Ryan frowned. “Didn’t you try to murder me before?”

    “Yeah, so?”

    “So, you tried to kill me.”

    “I guy can’t have a change of heart?”

    “I…I guess.”

    Silence followed Ryan’s words as the merman managed to merge looking sheepish and scowling. Leaving him to sort out his feelings, Ryan’s gaze drifted around the cavern he’d woken up in. It was small, water sloshing around inside of it. Only a small ledge offered dry land for the soldier to lay on. He struggled upright, scooting himself more firmly onto the ledge.

    “Did you bring me here?”

    “No, you fucking floated here,” the merman snapped. Ryan rolled his eyes.

    “Never would have thought a mermaid would be such an asshole.”

    “Sorry, didn’t realize there was a way I was supposed to act.” The merman slid back into the water, sinking down until only his scowling eyes were visible over the water.

    “I’m sorry. I’m not trying to be rude, I just…what happened to me?”

    “You fell off your ship,” the merman said, lifting just enough to get his lips above water.

    “I gathered that much.”

    “You guys were following those pirates.”

    “I…know that as well. I know that we were in pursuit of the pirates, and I know that we were attacked by them. And I know, well, I think I know that they were after you. However many of you there were, anyway.”

    “How did you figure that?” the merman said. Something decidedly sarcastic, and openly hostile, clung to the question.

    “What’s that supposed to mean?”

    “It means that you _know_ they were hunting us!” The merman made an angry sound and disappeared under the surface, splashing Ryan as he went.

    Ryan sat alone for a few minutes, trying to find a more comfortable position to sit in and wondering if the merman was planning on coming back or not. Just when he was starting to think he would have to find his own way back out of the cave, a familiar curly head poked through the surface. Gold eyes watched him uncertainly. There was still anger there, but now something that might have been an apology hovered there as well.

    “Look,” Ryan said, “You have to understand—I’m new here. I don’t know much about the Caribbean, or the people in it. Or the creatures. Until a few days ago, I didn’t even know mermaids existed! So you’ll have to excuse my ignorance on some of these things. Maybe you could help me fill in some of the blanks?”

    Silence filled the cave. Ryan wasn’t entirely sure his companion was even going to bother answering until, after a minute, he lifted his lips above the surface.

    “Merpeople.”

    “…What?”

    “Merpeople, not mermaids. We’re not all girls, you know.”

    “Okay, merpeople it is. And does this merperson who saved me have a name?” The merman watched him for another moment, blowing bubbles from his nose before lifting his lips again to answer,

    “It’s Michael.”

    “It’s nice to meet you, Michael. Thank you for saving my life. My name’s Ryan, by the way.”

    “I know,” Michael said, before immediately looking embarrassed.

    “I shouldn’t be surprised,” Ryan said, looking like he was trying not to laugh. “You have been following me, after all.” Michael only barely looked sheepish about it. “So, how about filling me in, huh?”


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ray wonders what kind of trouble he's gotten himself into this time, while Ryan gets a little history lesson and Geoff and his crew do a little plotting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Long time, no see! Can you believe I haven't actually abandoned this story? Shall we see what our heroes are up to this time...?

    Water sloshed inside the hull of the obsidian ship, reverberating with an almost metallic echo back at the merman huddled in its depths. The space beneath the _Ruby_ ’s floors, where there should have been storage for their supplies and plunder, instead began with a false bottom, twenty feet up from the actual base of the hull. A trapdoor, set into the floor, opened up into a small space below, a landing ringed with a low railing that overlooked the ship’s actual bottom—where the wood of the hull turned to steal bars beneath the waves, forming a metal mesh that allowed a basin of water almost ten feet deep. It was here, in this water, that the pirates kept their most precious plunder.

    Ray had been dumped here hours ago, after the cheering, jeering pirates had first pulled him onto their deck. Tangled in their next, Ray could only squirm and cry out as dangerous hands pulled at his hair, his limbs, his tail. Something sharp caught the flesh below his hip and he yelped as one of the pirates pried loose a single black scale. Ray tried to pull away from her, his hand already moving to where blood was pooling on his skin, but another hand reached through the netting and caught his chin.

    “Look what we have here, girls,” a blonde with wavy curls and frightening eyes cooed as she gripped Ray’s chin in her long nails. “A little fishy caught in our nets.” Ray struggled out of her grasp as the pirates around him laughed. They loomed over him, weapons flashing in the moonlit darkness, and all Ray could think that was, at any moment, they would begin carving him limb from limb.

    “He’s kind of handsome,” a new voice whispered, right at Ray’s shoulder. He jerked away as a lithe brunette poked through the net with her dagger. “Maybe we can keep this one for us?”

    More laughter, as someone else pulled at Ray’s hair, exposing his frightened silver eyes and quivering neck for everyone to see. Another voice hissed, “Or maybe we just kill him now?”

    “Ladies, you know the rules,” the blonde said, giving an idle roll of her eyes. “This one goes below deck, for his _majesty_.” She bowed, a deep, sweeping gesture that set the rest of her crew howling with laughter once more.

    “Aye captain,” a few voices echoed, and then Ray was being lifted, ragged nails pulling at his skin as he was hauled over the shoulders of a few of the pirates, and down a hatch on the ship’s deck. They lead him on a raucous ride through a hallway lined with hammocks and cannons, and through spaces piled with kegs and barrels and crates, before reaching the small landing on the ship’s lowest level. Here they unceremoniously shook Ray free of the net, dropping him into the watery cage. He’d sunk to the bottom, hugging the shadows as the girls remained a few minutes longer, calling insults and tossing the occasional hunk of debris down at him (likely pillaged from the ship they’d been gleefully blowing to pieces). After a few minutes, the pirates either tired of their harassment or simply realized they had more important tasks to tend to, because they soon filtered back up to the ship’s top decks, leaving Ray in the dark and relative quiet.

    For some time Ray clung to the shadows, afraid to show himself in case one of the pirates was still lurking, hiding and waiting for him to emerge. But as the water around him began to shift, and the currents around the ship began to change, Ray decided that if the ship was on the move then it was likely all of the pirate women were busy tending to whatever ship related tasks they were in charge of. With slow, cautions movements, Ray began to examine his cage.

    The first, and most apparent, thing he noticed was that the metal of this cage was superior to anything he’d seen humans use on their sailing vessels so far. Even with its constant exposure to the seawater, it seemed to have maintained its strength. Leaning in close, Ray plucked at one of the welds between the bars, hoping he might spot even the most hairline of fractures there, anything to try and exploit for an escape. But something else caught his eyes, wedged within the bends of the bars, glimmering faintly.

    Ray recoiled as he recognized the oversized, violet scale. Bile rose in his throat and images flashed through his mind, filling the dark space around him with the ghosts of the merpeople who’d been trapped here before him. His own people, terrified and doomed to death, their bodies nothing but trinkets in the eyes of a bunch of blood thirsty humans.

    Ray moved away from the bars as memories flashed, unbidden, through his mind. Memories of a ship like this one, bobbing out on the open sea. He and his friends had stumbled across it by mistake. They were supposed to be hunting down a shoal of fish, but, when the trail went cold, they headed for the surface. Seabirds tended to flock where fish could be found in abundance, and sometimes you could leap up out of the water and spot them. Instead, they found a rickety pirate’s ship, holding its position in the middle of nowhere.

    Then another other ship arrived. Sleek and new, with crisp white sails and a freshly painted hull, it completely outclassed the other ship. The men on board moved with practiced precision, all in matching uniforms and shouting orders back and forth. They made for such a contrast to the first ship that it almost seemed like they couldn’t possibly be inhabiting the same stretch of waves at the same time.

    The whole sight was so fascinating that the young mermen, raised from birth with stories of how dangerous these ships could be, didn’t even think to run away. Ducked down amongst the whitecaps, they watched in silent curiosity as the two ships pulled alongside one another, the humans onboard calling back and forth to each other. A long plank was stretched between the railings of the two vessels.

    That was when they saw the bodies.

    Long tails, limp and glistening under the moonlight, hung over the edges of long, shallow wooden crates being passed along from the ruffian ship to its polished counterpart.

    Gavin had made a horrible kind of squealing sound at the sight before darting back below the water. It wasn’t much, but it was enough to attract the attention of one of the men. He cried out, pointing in the direction of the mermen. The man’s cry, and the way the crews of both ships turned with a kind of single-minded hunger towards them, sent a chill of terror through Ray like nothing he’d ever felt before.

    Moving like sailfish, he and Michael raced back towards the depths, grabbing Gavin on the way. They swam for hours and miles, until they were too deep for the light of the moon and the stars to reach them and then deeper still. They swam until they could go no further, until it hurt to move, hurt to breath, until they were hidden deep within a maze of deep-sea rocks that no boat and no human could hope to find them in.

    They’d remained hidden for the better part of the next day, and from that moment on they did their best to avoid encounters with ships, especially at night.

    Or, they did until _someone_ decided to go harass humans near the docks.

    Ray’s sigh escaped in a string of exasperated bubbles. Humans were nothing but trouble, he reminded himself. Nothing but hateful creatures, intent on killing that which they didn’t understand. It was like Michael always said, apparently they didn’t like having someone around who might imply the ocean wasn’t theirs to control.

    A bearded face chose that moment to invade Ray’s frustrated thoughts, and he sighed again. _That_ human, he hadn’t tried to hurt Ray. He thought of fingers tangled in the net that captured him, of having to pry the man off to keep him from being hauled up onto the deck of this horrible ship with him.

    “Why do you have to be so complicated?” Ray huffed. Rubbing his arms, he drifted away from the edges of the cage, and into the shadows beneath the small landing hovering over him. “I hope these humans are worth all this, Michael,” he whispered. “Like, _really_ worth it.”

\--

    Michael seemed to be doing the merperson equivalent of pacing. He swam one way and then darted the other, churning up an agitated wake that sent little white-capped waves lapping at the shelf Ryan was watching him from. He seemed to be collecting his thoughts, muttering to himself and occasionally throwing Ryan a furtive glance.

    Ryan, for his part, was content to let the merman fuss. He’d already started to draw a few conclusions about the navy’s relationship with the merpeople from Michael’s half finished accusations and nervous fidgeting. They pieced together to form the beginnings of an unsavory image.

    It was one Ryan wasn’t entirely sure he was ready to learn the details of.

    Eventually Michael stilled. He sank down, until only his hair and eyes were visible over the murky water. His golden gaze, alight with an otherworldly glow in the dark cavern, bored into Ryan. The sailor did him best to look neutral as he held the gaze. He sensed Michael was trying to judge something about him, and, for reasons he couldn’t explain, he wanted the merman’s conclusion, whatever it might be, to be positive.

    He was so focused on holding Michael’s gaze that he didn’t even realize his hand was inching up towards his face until Michael snapped at him to stop.

    “Sorry,” Ryan mumbled, has hand falling into his lap. While Michael’s healing had repaired most of Ryan’s major injuries, there were a number of bruises and scrapes that remained, weaving a colorful pattern across Ryan’s face and chest. Ryan wasn’t sure whether it was because they were a reminder of his near death experience, or simply because they still tingled with whatever magic it was the merman possessed, but he just couldn’t stop poking at them.

    It was becoming a bit of a tick. And it was starting to drive Michael nuts.

    “What’s the point of me healing you if you’re just going to poke all of the holes open again?” he kept snapping. Ryan just kept offering apologies and sheepish looks, like the one he wore now as an unimpressed looking Michael scowled at him.

    With a sigh, Michael finally broke their eye contact. Ryan thought he might turn to pacing the water again, but then he sank back down into the water, and, with his lips brushing the surface, he asked,

    “How much do you know about our history?”

    “Well, considering that until a few days ago I thought you were imaginary?” Ryan asked. “Basically nothing. Except that you’re apparently being hunted by us.”

    Michael nodded slowly.

    “Humans have always hunted us,” he said. “Way back, when the only people here were the people natural to the land, not people like…like you.”

    “Europeans?” Ryan asked.

    “Sure, whatever. Anyway, they hunted us too. But rarely, and with normal weapons. You know, spears and stuff,” Michael clarified when Ryan frowned at him. “So, we had a fighting chance against them when they did come after us. And when they did kill one of us, they gave us stuff in return. They would toss food and fish, and weapons and jewelry and stuff into the water, like an apology or something. Some of my family still have some of the jewels they used to give us.”

    “Like an offering,” Ryan said.

    “Yeah, something like that. And, you know, it worked. As much as killing people can work. But then, things changed. People like you showed up.”

    “That seems to be what happens when we show up, things change.”

    “Yeah,” Michael said softly. His gaze had taken on a distant look, filled with a thoughtfulness Ryan couldn’t quite describe. He didn’t know how long a merperson could live for, and he found himself wondering how old Michael really was. Could he remember a time before the British had come to his home and taken up residence? Did he know what life was like before his people were hunted by men with more to gain than just a meal and a relationship with their Gods?

    “So, how do I come into all this?” Ryan asked gently. “How did things go from just local hunters to people like me being involved, people like those pirates?”

    “I don’t really know why it started,” Michael admitted. “There have always been…pirates?” he said, testing out the word, “Yeah, there have always been those around here, but they never really paid that much attention to us. Not until you guys started showing up.”

    “Now they hunt you?”

    “And trade our bodies to people like you,” Michael finished, before ducking below the water. Ryan let him have the time to himself. It couldn’t be easy for him to talk so bluntly about people hunting down his own kind, especially to someone to Ryan. The soldier was like the literal walking representation of everything bad that had happened to the merpeople over the last few years.

    While Michael was gone, Ryan tried to understand what would motivate the Royal Navy to trade with mer-hunters, like the pirates that had attacked his own ship. Money seemed the obvious reason, but were there really people out there willing to pay money for a merperson’s body?

    Of course there were. Earlier this week, Ryan thought merpeople were imaginary creatures. Now, after one chance encounter on a random beach, he knew the truth. Was it really so hard to believe that people back home wouldn’t pay top dollar to have the same experience? To be a part of the uncovering of an entire population of beings straight from myth and legend?

    Of course they would.

    Ryan sighed, running a hand through his hair. And Michael had risked his life, risked being captured by these people, to save _him_.

    At that thought, Ryan’s mind flashed back to that night on the beach, back to when he was in the water, trapped in the paralyzing notes of the merman’s song. Michael hadn’t been the only one there that night. What if he hadn’t been alone at the battle with the pirates?

    Ryan groaned as he shifted, moving over to the water’s edge. Darkness looked up at him through the surface.

    “Where did you go?” Ryan muttered to himself, peering into the dark water.

    Golden eyes materialized out of the shadows, followed by the scowl that surrounded them. Ryan leaned back as Michael’s head bobbed out of the water.

    “What?” he asked.

    “You weren’t the only one out there last night, were you? There were other mermen.” Michael looked away and nodded.

    “My friends came with me,” he said.

    “Where are they now?”

    “I don’t…I don’t know,” Michael admitted. “I think they stayed to fight.”

    “You should go check on them,” Ryan said. “We need to make sure they’re okay.”

    “We?” Michael asked back.

    “Sure,” Ryan said. “You helped me, after all. I think I owe you a little help in return.”

    “Yeah, okay. Just hop on into the water and we’ll swim off. Oh, wait, we can’t do that. In case you forgot, you’re not a merperson.”

    “No, but I am a sailor.”

    “So?”

    “So, we can get a boat.”

    “From where?” Michael asked.

    “We’re near the port, aren’t we? That’s where the closest cliffs and caves like these are, anyway.”

    “Yeah, we’re just outside of it,” Michael said. “But your ship didn’t come back last night.” Ryan bit his lip. He realized he hadn’t even thought to ask about the fate of his crewmates. If Michael had needed to rescue him, did that mean there were other sailors that had needed rescue as well? Michael must have been able to tell where his thoughts were going, because he said, “It didn’t sink or anything.”

    “Good,” Ryan said, although when he met Michael’s gaze he sensed that maybe the merman was saying less what he knew to be true and more what he knew the sailor wanted to hear. “We don’t have to wait for my ship to get back. That dock is full of boats we can borrow.”

    “Are you sure?” Michael asked.

    “Of course I’m sure.” If Michael was trying to hide his grin, Ryan thought, he was doing a pretty poor job of it. “Now, how about you help me out of this hole in the wall. We have a boat to borrow.”

\--

    The brig in Heyman’s ship was cramped and dank. All of Geoff’s crew had been crammed into two small cells. Geoff was locked in with half of them, in a cage of bars affixed to one of the ship’s sides. Damp, dirty straw lined the floor where he sat, his head in his hands. Jack sat beside him, staring off into the darkness of the ship’s hold. He and Geoff had only exchanged a few words after the captain has been deposited with his men.

    The only sound in the cell was coming from the pair sitting on the small bench hanging off the wall. Kdin, the ship’s medic, was tending to a young sailor with a magnificent bruise engulfing one eye. The sailor’s name was Caleb, and he’d been at the cannons with Ryan when the older man had gone overboard.

    When she finished with Caleb, Kdin came and sat down on Geoff’s other side. In a soft voice, she asked,

    “What now, Captain?”

    “What?” Geoff asked, without lifting his head. With his head down, he missed to look Kdin flashed him.

    “I mean, what do we _do_ now?”

    “What do you think?” Geoff snapped. “We sit in these cells until Heyman feels like dropping us back off at Port Royal.”

    “That’s the choice you’re going with?”

    “It’s the only choice we have,” Geoff snapped.

    “And if we weren’t just giving up?” Kdin snapped back. “Then what would we do?”

    Geoff lifted his head, expression fierce, and prepared a scathing reply for Kdin’s bullheaded attitude. But when he turned to Kdin, it was to meet a look just as fierce. Kdin held his gaze for a moment, and then said simply,

    “Ryan was my friend, too.”

    “What am I supposed to do?” Geoff whispered.

    “Are you kidding?” Kdin asked. “I’ve seen you take your ship back from tougher people than Captain Heyman. This is a standard naval ship, I know you know it’s layout like the back of your hand. It wouldn’t take you ten minutes to disable this thing and be back on _The Hunt_. Less with us helping.” Geoff glanced at Jack and Caleb, to see them nodding along with Kdin’s words. “Captain,” Kdin whispered, “don’t make us go down without a fight.”

    “I won’t,” Geoff said. “But tell me, how do we get out of this cell? Correct me if I’m wrong, but I’m pretty sure Ryan was our lock picking guy.”

    “We could use the key,” Caleb offered. When he cell mates turned confused looks on their young companion, he produced from one of his pockets a ring of iron keys.

    “When did you get that?” Jack asked.

    “You know, earlier,” Caleb said with a shrug. When Geoff frowned at him, he fidgeted for a moment and then said, “I might have run with a… _rough_ crowd back in England. Mom thought joining the navy would straighten me out a little bit.”

    Jack laughed, and said, “Well, I’m glad it didn’t.” Caleb ducked his head sheepishly, but the others only offered him supportive grins.

    “Well then,” Geoff said, looking from the keys in Caleb’s hand to Kdin and Jack. “I guess we should get started on our escape plan.”


End file.
